Chilled and frozen foods are often prepared using a churning system that mixes the food while the food is being chilled or frozen. One such food often produced by a churning system is ice cream. Ice cream is typically produced by freezing an ice cream mixture in an ice cream maker.
Churning systems used to make ice cream are typically vertically oriented systems. For example, a common ice cream maker typically utilizes a vertically mounted cylindrical container that contains an ice cream mixture. The container rotates about a longitudinal axis of the container in an open bucket filled with salt and ice. The salt and ice cools the ice cream mixture as the container rotates in the bucket until the ice cream is frozen.
Conventional churning systems suffer from numerous disadvantages. For example, conventional churning systems may not be safe for children to operate. The container is rotating, often rotated by an electric motor, within the bucket. The clearances between the container and bucket may allow a child's hand to get caught and injured. Another disadvantage of conventional churning systems is that they are often large and bulky, and difficult to operate.